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OF AGRICULTURE 

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BETTER 
LIVESTOCK 




THE ARCHWAY THAT LEADS TO SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



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♦ ARMOURS- DUREAU-o/"* 
AGRICULTURAL- RESEARCH ♦ AND • ECONOMICS 

R.J.H.De Loach, Director Union Stock Yards, Chicago,! II. 




J 

Armour's 

HAND 
BOOK 

of Agriculture , 



Published, January, igai 



Armour's Bureau 
of A-gricultural ResearcK and Economics 

R. J. H. De LOACH, Director 

Union Stock Yards 
Chicago, III. 






"America's greatest need to-day is a more 
complete understanding of her industries in 
their relation to agricultural production and 
prosperity. . . " 



©C1A615217 C 

Copyright, 1921, Armour and Company 

APR 27 1921 ^ 



J. OGDEN ARMOUR 

CHICAGO 



Dear Sir : 

We are handing you herewith a copy 
of our Handbook of Agriculture, which 
defines our relations with agriculture and 
our position or policy on agricultural 
and production problems. 

We feel that for the best interests 
of all concerned it is important for us 
to make a statement of our position on 
these matters. It is very evident 
that the proper relation should exist 
between commerce and industry and 
agriculture, and it is our aim to have 
this book help to establish this rela- 
tionship. We believe that it represents 
the viewpoint that all of us must come 
to in the furtherance of our concerted 
interests and in the development of a more 
wholesome national spirit. 

Very truly yours , 






ARMOUR AND THE FARMER 

Within recent years interest in agriculture has been growing 
very rapidly. Railroads, banks, chambers of commerce, and many 
large industries have organized departments of agriculture. A new 
impetus has been given to agricultural education, and agricultural 
colleges and experiment stations have begun to receive large appro- 
priations and to flourish as they never did before. The farmers 
are more alert mentally, and are making better use of the soil, which 
shows a healthy reaction from this universal interest in the subject. 

Many factors are back of this new interest in agriculture. 
In the first place, all are beginning to see that agriculture is the 
only vocation that can maintain an independent existence. For 
in it, men can find their food, clothing and shelter, and with these 
life can be sustained. In the second place, all are beginning to 
understand the importance of the soil as our universal source of 
supplies. We are beginning to realize that the soil can be wasted 
or it can be conserved in a state of permanent fertility, and that 
universal interest may set machinery in motion to preserve it 
permanently before the "thinning" process has gone too far. 

While agriculture is perhaps the most important vocation of 
man, civilization is based on successful agriculture, plus a healthy 
system of transportation, commerce, manufacture and industry. It is 
based on the proper contact of man with man and nation with 
nation, which is not possible without an efficient system of trans- 
portation. Farmers realize thoroughly that agriculture is a fasci- 
nating business or Vocation only when to its necessities are added 
comforts and amusements. They know that to make these possible 
requires skilled workmen and talent not engaged in agriculture. 
In other words, civilization requires that populations be so divided 
that only a sufficient number will be producing to furnish food and 
clothing, and to make agriculture fascinating; that a sufficient 
number be engaged in transportation to make for efficiency, yet 
not so crowded that the vocation ceases to be profitable; that a 
sufficient number be engaged in, manufacture and commerce, and 
that there be equal chance for life, liberty and the pursuit of 
happiness in all lines of activity. 

Armour is interested in agriculture because it is the background 
of all manufacture and industry, without which they could not exist. 
Commerce and industry must prosper with agriculture. They can- 
not prosper at the expense of agriculture. In the early history of 
mankind, production was imposed upon slaves, and government 
was administered to the people and not controlled by them. 

For the purpose of getting an accurate estimate of Armour's 
relations with production, there has been organized a Bureau of 
Agricultural Research and Economics. To this department we 
are looking for a thorough investigation of our interest in the 
problem, and just how we should establish closer relations with 
the producers. This book shows some points at which Armour and 
the farmer have interests in common and we believe will lay the 
foundation for an understanding of our problems, and for a better 
relationship between our interests and the farmer's interests. 



THE GOVERNMENT AND THE FARMER 

The Government, it should be kept in mind, is not any partic- 
ular material thing, but is the embodiment of the spirit or soul of 
a great mass of people, and is represented by a class of citizens 
called government officials or employes. The fairness with which 
this spirit is administered depends upon the natural ability, the 
training and personal peculiarities of these representatives. 

Men are not perfect, whether they be in office or out of office, 
whether they be in public positions or private business. Fallible 
men out of office do not become infallible men in office, and for 
these reasons, representatives of the spirit of the whole people may 
not always be free from prejudices. The idea of loyalty to the 
Government is based on the assumption that men out of office are 
as anxious as men in office to observe the law and to see that the 
Government shall function properly and that public officials shall 
represent the spirit of the whole people rather than that of any 
particular class. 

The United States Department of Agriculture represents the 
entire nation agriculturally, not a particular class of citizens called 
farmers. No government can have a more important work than 
to foster the production of a sufficient amount of food, clothing 
and shelter for its citizens, and to encourage and protect against 
fraud those who are engaged in agricultural pursuits. The nature 
of its work seems to indicate that it is perhaps the most important 
department of our Government. 

The Department of Agriculture has evolved the greatest piece 
of agricultural machinery of its kind in the world, and when 
properly functioning should inspire our farming population to develop 
the highest degree of efficiency. To accomplish this, millions of \ 
our general tax money are spent annually and thousands of experts 
are employed. To discover means of producing more bread and 
meat on a given surface, and with this to promote the welfare of 
the producers, is the Government's primary interest in agriculture. 

This great Department represents the spirit of America agri- 
culturally only when it exercises a wholesome leadership with the 
proper attitude toward all the people. In a democracy no depart- 
ment of government can, with safety, promote one line of business 
at the expense of others. There is great danger in prejudicing one 
class of citizens against another, which we hold is never justifiable in 
a governmental agency. To do so is a sign of weakness or unfair- 
ness on the part of those who, for the time being, have in charge 
the administration of the affairs of government. The function of 
the government should be rather to exercise leadership, to harmo- 
nize differences and to warn and punish offenders. 

The packing industry is very closely related to, and its growth, 
for the past half century, has been coexistent with the development 
of our agriculture. It is founded on sound economic principles, 
and in a study of these principles the industry asks from the Govern- 
ment only the same fair dealings as are accorded other industries 
and vocations, including agriculture. 

Our Federal Government is divided up into many parts, and each 



division is charged with a certain duty. For a Department to try 
to function outside its own sphere is likely to lead to misunder- 
standing and serious consequences. When the Department of , 
Agriculture is making investigations in the field of Commerce and 
Manufacture, it seems that the natural thing would be to do so in 
conjunction with the Department of Commerce, just as the Depart- 
ment of Commerce would be expected to do in the case of making 
inquiry regarding agriculture. 

This industry is engaged primarily in the manufacturing and 
marketing business, not in agricultural production, and marketing 
is the first step in the field of commerce, and its importance is 
second only to that of agriculture. Farmers, we believe, should 
co-operate in the marketing of their products to the same extent to 
which others are permitted to co-operate, but when the Govern- 
ment promotes any-marketing problem it should represent the spirit 
of all the people, rather than the welfare of any particular class. 
The Department of Commerce should be the umpire for the Gov: 
ernment in all matters pertaining to the marketing of all products, 
both those of the farms and those of the manufacturers, and the 
subject should always be considered as a whole and the welfare of 
all the citizens taken into account in every step of the marketing 
process. 

THE STATE AND THE FARMER 

The State is a step nearer the lives and homes of the people 
than is the Government, and enters more into sympathetic rela- 
tions with them because State officials are seen of tener, and become 
a reality in the minds of the people. The State's interest in agri- 
culture is similar to the Government's interest, — but it has a more 
direct way of expressing this interest. 

The states promote the business of agriculture in many ways 
including the services through the Department of Agriculture, the 
Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations, and the teaching 
of agriculture in the common schools. In all these, the idea is to 
help develop thrift on the farm, and to insure good returns from 
the soil. The State finds that the promotion of agriculture is good 
insurance against the day of want. In promoting agriculture the 
State should not overlook the welfare of all other activities. It is 
promoting agriculture for the benefit of the entire state, and not 
merely for the farmers. 




AGRICULTURE AND INDUSTRY 

The greatest problem in ancient times was to keep enough 
men producing on farms so that those not on farms would have 
food and clothing. This is not true today, because of the develop- 
ment of the principle of landownership, and the new business of 
farming which will keep a safe ratio on the farm. 

The progress of agriculture depends as much upon the number 
and kind of people who are not on farms as it does on those who 
are on farms. If all were farmers, every man would produce what 
he needed and would consume what he produced. He would not 
need to buy and there would be no one to sell to, so there would 
be no advantage in producing a surplus. It is extremely important, 
therefore, for the safety of agriculture that we have a sufficient 
number of the right kind of citizens off the farms to properly 
handle our industries, our manufactures, and our commerce, and 
to consume the surplus products of our farms. Farming can be 
made profitable only when farmers can sell enough products to buy 
land and the necessary farm equipment, and to enjoy the comforts 
of a progressive civilization. 

While agriculture, therefore, may be the most important busi- 
ness of the nation, industry also is highly important and necessary. 
Civilization is based on a healthy development of manufactures, a 
great system of transportation, and the growth of commerce. A 
large percent of the population is required to do these things other 
than farming, and farming can be made a business only when 
there are many other lines of business and when farmers have a 
maximum number of customers. At present about 49,000,000 
people are living on farms in the United States and her possessions, 
and nearly 59,000,000 off the farms. This makes approximately 
42% of the people on farms and our farmers have a market for 
about 58% of their total products. Industry, which has become 
necessary to manufacture, conserve, and distribute this surplus, 
furnishes a market for farm produce that converts agriculture 
into a business second to none in the country. 

The business of agriculture may be conducted economically 
on a small scale, or in small units, but for most other kinds of in- 
dustry this is not possible. Business and industry have found that 
organization on a large scale develops efficiency and cuts down 
overhead expenses. Some think that the future success of our 
agriculture will depend on organizing on a large scale, and in this 
way fall in line with the standards set up by large industrial organ- 
izations. Whether this be true will depend on the will of the land- 
owners themselves. Farms are growing larger and farmers are 
organizing for the successful marketing of their products. This is 
in keeping with the marketing of manufactured products by organized 
business. In developing this idea, farmers should not ignore the 
fundamental law of supply and demand, which determines whether 
a given product brings a good price or whether it must be sacrificed. 
Industry has learned that prices are set by demand for a product, 
and not by the will of those who would sell. 



RATIO OF RURAL TO URBAN POPULATION 

In the foregoing it is shown that about 49,000,000 people Uve 
on farms in the United States, while approximately 59,000,000 
live in cities and towns. To secure the necessities of life from the 
earth requires a greater number of our citizens than any other single 
vocation, and there are enough citizens not on farms to make a 
large ready market for this produce. To this fact alone can be 
attributed the possibility of making of our agriculture a great indus- 
try or business. It is what farmers eat that keeps them alive, but it is 
what they sell that makes them thrifty and prosperous. 

It is frequently asked if we need more farmers and greater 
competition in the field of agricultural production? From the 
standpoint of the farmer, the answer would be NO ! Farmers fre- 
quently need more labor on the farm, but they are not anxious 
to have a greater number of farmers. From the standpoint of the 
consumer, the answer would be YES! The consumer is looking for 
cheaper food, while the farmer is looking for higher prices for his 
products. This conflict of desires is natural, and is brought about 
largely by the ever changing ratio of country-city populations. 

In the early days 5% of our population lived in towns and cities, 
and the other 95% on farms. Only those thrifty farmers located 
near the towns and cities marketed anything, while those more re- 
mote produced only a sufficient quantity to supply their own needs. 
This condition was generally true until the invention of the spin- 
ning jenny and the settlement of the fertile lands in the middle west. 
From this time, production became a less serious problem, and our 
clothing and shoe manufacturing establishments began to grow 
upon the eastern shore. Our transportation systems began to reach 
for raw produce, and to take products to consumers. 

The tendency, therefore, has been to drift from the farms to 
the cities, as our manufactures have grown and our transportation 
systems have removed the danger of starvation from centers of 
population. What is the limiting ratio? How many more can we 
spare from the country? These questions can be answered only 
by the limit to which farm machinery can be improved, and by the 
prices of farm produce. It also depends upon the extent to which 
other vocations become crowded. When the competition in our 
industrial centers becomes too great, the people will move to the 
country, and when the prices of farm products are too low, farmers 
and farm labor will move to the towns and cities. We believe 
the natural laws of landownership and the fascinating vocation of 
agriculture will keep this ratio within the safety limit. 

Farmers sometimes believe there are too many middle-men. 
Yet what are middle-men to do unless they function as they are? 
Shall they be sent back to the farms to compete in production? There 
has always been a certain amount of dead timber both on farms 
and in cities, but their burden is carried by society as a whole, not 
by producers alone. The man who pays the bill at the other end 
of the line carries the most of it. If the consumer paid less, the 
producer would get less, as in our present state of society. The 
redeeming feature is that every person not a producer is a customer. 



THE NATURE OF OUR AGRICULTURE 

Ours is a livestock agriculture, a fact which makes the live- 
stock market an essential ally of the farmer and an important fac- 
tor in our agricultural system. 

In the year 1919 we fed approximately 80% of all our grain 
crops to livestock, making the immense total given below : 



95% of our oats or 1,152,970,000 bushels 
90% " " corn " 2,533,887.000 
85% " " barley " 184.720,400 " 
30% " " wheat " 384.203,000 " 
20% " " rice " 31,865.000 " 



or a total of 4,287,645,400 bushels 

The greater part of our farm lands was given over to the grow- 
ing of feedstuffs for livestock, which have added proportionately to 
our necessities, comforts and luxuries. This method has enabled 
the American farmer to convert into money the entire output of 
oui" national agriculture. If we had no livestock industry, there 
would be such a large surplus of grain that all the world could not 
consume it. 

The most important factor in the development of this system 
of agriculture has been a ready cash market for livestock. Before 
such a market was established, our agriculture was at a low ebb, 
but since then it has far outstripped any other in the world. 

The country has grown into great farming centers and manu- 
facturing centers, as a result of its geography. There are large areas 
of fertile soil in the middle west, and natural advantages for manu- 
facturing and export trade on the Atlantic seaboard. This has re- 
sulted in areas of overproduction and sections of overconsumption. 

For instance, in 1918 the State of South Dakota shipped out, on 
the hoof, 600,000 beef cattle and 1,700,000 hogs, to be manufactured 
into food products by the large packing plants, to be taken east for 
distribution, and to return large sums of money as farm income. 
Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, Nebraska and Georgia have 
50% of the hogs of the country, or a total of 35,000,000. Texas, 
Nebraska, Jowa, Kansas and Illinois have 25% of the beef cattle, 
or a totial of 11,000,000. This book is prepared partly for the 
purpose of showing how these sections have been brought together. 

The equipment of the packing industry has been gradually 
adjusted to the need of doing this very thing, and was not from 
the first destined to enter into competition with the smaller 
slaughtering houses. This is the explanation of an immense sys- 
tem of mechanical refrigerator cars. To haul live animals such 
distances would be more than four times as costly. 

8 



HelpYourself by Helping Each Other 

sssti 




MARKETING OF FARM PRODUCE 

No matter how much food our nation as a whole produces, 
farmers will always have to face the problem of marketing it. 
Nowhere in the world has a system been developed in which the 
ultimate consumer goes after the goods he needs and it is extremely 
doubtful if price levels and decreased production will ever reach 
a point where a change in the economic scheme will be necessary. 

Nearly all businesses in which the production of a definite 
commodity is the aim, have two separate departments, a production 
department and a sales department. The two are manned by en- 
tirely different types of men, each skilled in his own field. It is rare 
indeed that a member.of the production department is a good sales- 
man, and even rarer that a good salesman is a good producer. 
Hence it is not surprising that farmers have in general failed to 
combine these two functions in the handling of their farms, and 
that a complex marketing system for farm produce, adapted to the 
distances that must be covered from farm to dinner table, has 
sprung up. In the case of fruits, vegetables and many of the cereals 
and hays, there is practically no change made from the form in 
which the product leaves the farm, hence a margin in price is 
required only for labor in grading and sorting, transportation and 
waste due to spoilage. Animal products, except eggs and raw 
milk, require a certain amount of manufacture in addition, hence 
the farmer requires the service of marketing agents to a greater 
degree, a service that may cost much more in terms of margin than 
is required on grains or other farm products. 

Farm production is seasonal, but the products must be so 
handled as to be distributed over the year. With the fruits, grains 
and vegetables, there is little choice as to what the farmer can do. 
The middleman has developed storage facilities that are so much 
cheaper and more efficient than those which the individual farmer 
can obtain, that it is the usual practice for the farmer to sell at once ' 
and thereby make the greatest profit from his crops, even though 
the prices may be a little higher at some later period. Livestock 
presents a different situation, however, since its marketing is much 
more independent of season. The intelligent feeder can so plan his 
feeding schedules as to market his animals at any time, although 
he will usually find that the cycle whereby his young animals are 
born in the spring and fed out on the crops of the following autumn 
or the second season, give him the lowest cost of production. If he 
seeks the higher price levels of the light seasons on the livestock 
market he must match his judgment of probable increased prices 
against his own knowledge of increased cost of production. 

The sale of livestock is the first step in the marketing process, 
being a trade between the commission man who represents the 
producer, and the buyer who represents the manufacturer. Both 
know markets and set their judgment, one against the other, to 
make a bargain. Due to the variations in judgment in different 
farmers, there are always going to be a number of dissatisfied losers, 
and the marketing problem will probably be as acute in 2021 A. D. 
as it is in 1921 or was in 221, for it is an old, old problem. 

10 



MANUFACTURE OF FARM PRODUCE 

A certain amount of farm produce is-consumed just as it comes 
from the farm, while a great portion is manufactured completely 
before it is ready for final consumption. The progress of our civili- 
zation is measured by our ability to convert raw product into its greatest 
usefulness to man. Things that do not require manufacturing were 
as common among savages as they are among civilized peoples, but 
only the crudest efforts at manufacture were made by man before the 
dawn of civilization. His growing wants have inspired him to 
discover how he can better use Nature's storehouse. 

The packing industry is based upon the necessity of processing 
livestock for man's needs. Man ate animal flesh before the days 
of the packing industry, but largely around the centers of production. 
There was very little trade in meats and meat products except where 
farmers brought fresh meats to the villages and towns, to dispose 
of them for immediate consumption. 

In our modern civiHzation, meat is a large portion of the diet 
because: 1. It contains food elements that are most nutritious and 
appetizing; 2. The production of Uvestock fits into any agricultural 
scheme for conserving soil fertiUty. The manufacture of livestock 
into meats by the large packing establishment is differentiated from 
primitive methods, or even the modern small slaughtering house, by 
at least two qualifications. 1. It must be sanitary and must pass 
Federal inspection for cleanliness as well as for the wholesomeness 
of the meats that are being manufactured. 2. It must have equip- 
ment of such nature as to fit into the national development of Our 
agriculture. It must manufacture on a large scale, especially in the 
United States, must ship fresh meats rapidly from one part of the 
country to the other, and must have an immense system of refriger- 
ation to keep these meats in perfect condition until they finally 
reach the consumer. 

The manufacture of livestock and other farm produce into the 
most usable forms has unquestionably been responsible for the 
progress and prosperity of our agriculture, and agriculture owes 
to industry much for the part it has taken in helping to increase 
the value of farm produce. A strictly agricultural country cannot 
prosper unless a large proportion of the population is engaged in 
manufacture, commerce and transportation, as well as in agricul- 
ture. There might have been a degree of satisfaction in farmers 
making their produce into usable materials, but few of us would 
exchange our modern civilization for this primitive condition. In 
fact, everybody has fo^er^d the modern principle of the manufac- 
ture, away from the farm, of farm products into usable materials. 

In the development of this system in our country, all classes 
of labor and industrial management have specialized to a degree far 
beyond the farmer. Those in our manufacturing centers where 
it is necessary to have specialized effort can do very few things, 
perhaps only one thing efficiently. However, they prove a mighty 
factor in adding value to farm produce before it is ready for final 
consumption, and it is quite necessary to keep in mind all of these 
points when we study the problems nearest to us. 

11 



G rade Your Products 



FIRST 



SECOND 



r\ 







8 



GRADE 



GRADE 



rj^e Higher the Ordde-the Better the Price. 



12 



WHOLESALE MARKETING 

The first trade in the marketing process is between two experts, 
— the commission man and the packer buyer, both knowing the 
value of the Hvestock sold. The second step is the sale of the 
carcass or wholesale cuts by the manufacturer to the retail butcher, 
again a trade between two experts. Each possesses a full knowl- 
edge of the public demand for meat and meat products. The third 
and last step in marketing is the final sale by butcher to consumer. 
Whether this is between two experts depends on whether the con- 
sumer is a meat expert. In most cases he is not, but he does know 
when meats suit his taste, and he refuses to patronize butchers who 
continually offer products that do not appeal to his palate. 

We propose to discuss only the problem of the wholesale 
dealer, as it relates to the distribution of packing -house products. 
This process requires for fresh meats complete equipment, 
including large curing houses, elaborate mechanical refrigeration, 
and an efficient system of refrigerator car lines, and all this 
in addition to large manufacturing plants, where overhead expenses 
can be kept down. The success of our agriculture and of all in- 
dustry, may be traced directly to the quick wholesale movement of 
the finished product. Unless such products could be moved rapidly 
and regularly as they are made, the channels of trade would soon 
be clogged and people would go unfed and unclothed, and the raw 
products would find no place in the factory experience. 

Contrast the early days of handling meats when that which 
was not consumed immediately was lost, with today, when a large 
industry saves practically every pound. In the conduct of this busi- 
ness the fundamental laws of values are in operation every minute 
of the time. The value of the articles offered for sale depends upon 
the price for which they can be sold. No one can very long maintain 
his business who cannot produce the articles offered for sale, for less 
money than he receives for them. The cost of operation plus the 
cost of the raw products must be more than realized in the sale of 
the goods, and at the same time the keenest competition must be 
met. The manufacturer or firm that exercises the best judgment 
in buying raw products, usually can make the best appeal to the 



consuming public, be- 
ucts that find a broad 
that are likely to bring 
cause they appeal to 
trade. 






cause he gets the prod- 
and steady outlet, and 
the better prices be- 
the better class of 




13 



THE DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD PRODUCTS 

The center of livestock production in the United States is 
approximately 1,100 miles from the center of meat consumption. 
That the people of the United States do not have to travel this 
distance to secure their supplies, is due to the efficiency of our 
industrial and transportation systems-. The fact that prices of 
meat are so nearly national in nature, proves how thorough the 
distribution is. There is little that is sectional in the way a big 
packing organization handles its products. For example, two-thirds 
of the beef slaughtered at Armour and Company's river markets, 
Kansas City, St. Joseph, Omaha and Sioux City is consumed east 
of the Ohio borders, an average distance of 1,125 miles. Nearly 
as great a proportion of the beef from the Ft. Worth plant goes into 
the southeast, an approximate distance of above 800 miles. The 
average distance that a carcass of beef travels from the time 
Armour and Company receive it until it leaves the Company's 
possession is approximately 450 miles. A lamb carcass travels 
about 600 miles, and the products from a hog carcass, 500. 

The distribution problem is more than geographical, however. 
Nearly all livestock is fed on the annual cycle based on the dates 
when crops ripen, while its products are consumed according to the 
frequency with which man gets hungry. This makes necessary a 
distribution in time that arouses a second and very important prob- 
lem in livestock marketing. The great period when cattle and sheep 
come on the market is in the fall, while hogs come in the winter, 
principally during the period November to February. On the other 
hand the summer consumption far exceeds the receiptsof that season. 
Hence the problem of the marketing organizations is to assume the 
overhead expense necessary to bridge over the lean months and so 
to handle the receipts as to result in a minimum of discomfort 
for the great body of consumers in America. During the fiscal 
year 1918-1919 Armour and Company's sales were distributed 
according to two-month periods as shown in the following table, 
while the receipts on the market were as indicated. 



PERCENTAGE RECEIPTS AND SALES BY PERIODS OF 
LIVESTOCK AND MEATS 





1918 
Nov.-Dec. 


1919 
Jan.-Feb. 


1919 
Mar. -Apr. 

15.1 
12.4 


. 1919 
May-June 


1919 
July-Aug. 


1919 
Sept.-Oct. 


Beef sales 


17.6 
22.2 


19.8 
17.6 


13.8 
13.5 


16.3 
14.8 


17.4 


" receipts 


19.5 


Lamb sales 

" receipts 


15.2 
19.2 


16.1 
13.8 


14.4 
10.0 


14.4 
11.8 


17.8 
18.0 


22.1 
27.2 


Pork sales . . . . 


15.5 
21.7 


20.9 
23.4 


16.5 
15.1 


14.8 
17.0 


16.2 
11.3 


16.1 


" receipts 


11.5 



The beef and lamb surplus from September to December and the 
pork surplus from November to February, are clearly demonstrated. 



14 



CONSUMPTION 

Food consumption is based fundamentally on the need of 
energy and of replacing the worn tissues in the individual. How- 
ever, civilization has carried it far beyond such a point, and today 
food consumption is based not on needs, but on the appeal of 
quality, flavor, sanitation and general appetizing conditions of mar- 
keting. The proportions of different foods or the general character 
of foods is a racial matter, or, within the race, a family matter. It 
is generally known that the peoples of the northern latitudes con- 
sume more fats and that the peoples of the tropics more fruits than 
those of the temperate zones. It is less generally known that the 
bulk of mutton and lamb produced in the United States is consumed 
east and north of the Ohio-Pennsylvania Southern state line and the 
Potomac River. Each section has its food peculiarities and each city 
or market within that locality its individual characteristics. It is 
difficult to appreciate in terms of pounds how cities with strong 
Catholic populations reduce their meat consumption on Fridays, or 
what a factor the feast days or fast days observed by members of 
other religions are in the movements of farm produce. Moreover, 
some communities express preferences for one cut, some for an- 
other; witness the Jewish abstention from pork and the consump- 
tion of fore quarter beef. The meat salesman has to anticipate 
these days and customs, while the general vendors of farm prod- 
uce must understand them perfectly, else there is great waste. 

But even greater than these fixed days in determining the rate 
of consumption of the different foods is the effect of weather on the 
tastes of the public or the effect of competing foods. It is difficult 
indeed to measure the effect of a few carloads of early strawberries 
or melons on meat consumption, not because they are competing 
foods from a nutritional standpoint, but because they compete for 
the favor of the limited family purse. Few farmers are competent 
to judge these whims of taste, and the services of highly trained 
middlemen are therefore necessary to guarantee the farmer highest 
prices for his products. 

The differences in nations as to annual per capita meat con- 
sumption is shown in the following table, prepared from data fur- 
nished by the U. S. Department of Agriculture in 1916 : 



Australia 


262 lbs. 

213 " 

171 •' 

140 •' 

137 " 

124 " 

120 " 

116 " 

79 " 

76 " 

75 " 


Belgium 

Netherlands 


70 lbs. 




70 " 


United States 


Greece 

Austria 


68 " 




64 " 


Canada 


Norway 


62 " 


Cuba 


Sweden 

Poland 


62 " 




62 - ' 




Russia 


50 " 




Spain 


49 " 




Italy 


47 " 




Portugal 


44 " 









It will be noticed that the English speaking countries are by 
far the biggest consumers of meat, while there are no Asiatic races 
given in the table. This is because the Asiatics are very frugal con- 
sumers of meat indeed, Japan being the only nation that shows 
any signs of increasing in this particular. 



15 



SERVING ANE 




AGRICULTURE, COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, WHEN j 

GREATER NATI 



EING SERVED 




3PERLY ORGANIZED, WILL STAND TOGETHER FOR 
AL EFFICIENCY 



THE CENTERS OF POPULATION. THE GREAT 
PROBLEM OF DISTRIBUTION 

The great centers of population in the United States are along 
the Atlantic seaboard and inland for about a depth of 300 miles. 
Excluding the Gulf States, Florida, the Carolinas and Ohio, this 
includes about 32 percent of the population, all of which is 
characteristically industrial, and hence a food consumptive group. 
Not all other regions are surplus producers as far as all classes of 
meat are concerned, the southeast, for example, requiring the ship- 
ment of a large proportion of its beef and lamb, and the northwest 
and southwest a large part of their pork and pork products. Never- 
theless, the great problem in distribution is furnished by the eastern 
centers, and the accomplishment of this function is the economic 
reason for the existence of national packing organizations. 

We believe that Armour and Company's figures on distribution 
from the various sections in which their plants are located are 
sufficiently representative of the economic facts of distribution to 
be applicable to all national packing companies, and that they will 
give a typical measure of the contributions of each of the producing 
districts toward feeding this third of our population located in 
industrial regions. The following table is self-explanatory: 



Plant 


Beef Shipped 


Pork and Pork Product Shipped 




East 


Elsewhere 


East 


Elsewhere 


Chicago 

St. Paul 

Spokane 


61% 
25 

2 
14 
27 
63 
78 
66 
62 
11 
61 





5 


39% 

75 

98 

86 

73 

37 

22 

34 

38 

89 

39 
100 
100 

95 


98% 
20 

I 





40 
60 
50 
70 


20 








2% 
80 
99 




100 


Ft. Worth 

Kansas City 

St. Joseph 


100 
60 
40 




50 


Sioux City 

Indianapolis 

St. Louis 

Jacksonville 

Tifton 


30 
100 

80 
100 
100 


Hamilton, Ont 


100 



Mutton and lamb in general in their distribution tend to follow 
cattle, although the ratio is not exactly the same. It will thus be seen 
that the great burden of feeding America's centers of population 
is laid on the Mississippi-Missouri River section, to the north of 
their confluence. The shortage in beef in the southeast is largely 
supplied from the Ft. Worth and St. Louis territory. Pork product 
throughout the southwest is supplied from the Fort Worth and 
Denver territory, and throughout the northwest from the St. Paul, 
Denver and Spokane regions. Because of the arrangement of rail- 
road trunk lines, it is almost as easy to take the meats east as it is 
to distribute to these more sparsely settled areas, hence it frequently 
happens that the cost of distribution eastward is relatively much 
less than it is in the mountain states, the range country and over 
parts of the Pacific coast. This fact helps to bring up the price of 
livestock for the western producers and to furnish and lower costs 
of fresh meats to eastern consumers. 



18 



SOME DIFFICULTIES IN DISTRIBUTION 

The distribution of meats in the United States having been 
developed according to the scheme indicated, it has become impera- 
tive that nothing happen to interfere with the steady flow from day to 
day, lest starvation conditions develop in the industrial regions. 
Such an incident as the switchmen's strike of the spring of 1920 
is one of the most demoralizing things that can occur in the live- 
stock and meat trade, since the cutting off of further immediate 
sources of supply boosts the price of available meats due to the 
strong competitive demand, and the cutting off of further mar- 
keting knocks the bottom out of livestock prices, both during the 
strike and the following period of the rush to market. Unless the 
steady flow is maintained from day to day in the channels of trade, 
the situation becomes alarming for the consumer and ruinous for 
the producer. It is the fluctuation in prospect of flow, as it affects 
the ratio of supply to demand, that causes the fluctuations in price, 
so irritating to producer and manufacturer. 

A second class of difficulties in distribution arises from the 
fact that certain portions of the animal find a greater demand and 
quicker sale than other portions. During the spring and summer 
of 1920, there was little demand for hides or pelts, and there accu- 
mulated hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of such articles on 
the basis of normal demand that were valued on the 1920 market 
at only a fourth to one-half their previous price. These had been 
credited to the beeves or sheep from whose backs they came as far 
back as February of that year, at the market value on the day the 
animals were killed, but the falling markets piled up heavy losses 
while storage charges continued to accumulate. Farmers all over 
the country were suffering from the same condition with regard to 
their wool, and the difficulty in handling hides and pelts was 
reflected in the prices in both classes of stock. 

These conditions are abnormal. There exist several phases of 
normal meat marketing that bring up similar problems. For 
example, the most difficultly satisfied demand for Armour and 
Company's cured pork products is for Star bacon and hams. Star 
bacon can be made from only one class of hogs possessing a certain 
type and degree of quality. Their sides are only 8-9 percent of their 
weight, and the number of hogs of this quality is sufliciently small 
to reduce the figure much lower in comparison to the total kill of 
fresh pork for the year. If both, bacon and hams of the best grade, 
are lumped together, they are only about 8.4 percent by weight of the 
total hog kill. The condition is similar in other classes of animals, 
the cuts in greatest demand from cattle averaging only 14.3 percent 
of the live weight and from sheep and lambs only 31.2 percent. This 
makes the problem of distribution a matter of getting rid of the 
less popular portions of the kill, 88 percent of the hog, 85.7 percent 
of the cattle, and 68.8 percent of the sheep. The ordinary method 
is to make the popular cuts carry what is lost on the less popular, 
but this is many times impossible when no market exists at all, 
when numerous cured cuts such as fat backs have to be rendered 
for lard after the expense of curing has been gone through. 

19 



WHO ARE PRODUCERS? 

The man who can take one kernel of corn and produce 300 
kernels has rendered less service than the man who can produce 
600 kernels under the same conditions. The feeder who changes 
one bushel of corn into 10 pounds of pork produces and deserves 
more than the man whose bushel of corn returns hut 7 pounds. 

In like manner, a firm which can change a steer into 500 pounds 
of meat and 50 pounds of hide has rendered a service; the firm 
which can take the same steer, produce the same products, save an 
additional $10 worth of by-products and distribute each article to 
that market which wants it most, has served and produced still 
more. If the service rendered is sounder and more economic than 
its rival's, the business grows and prospers. 

Our national business system consists of a continuous chain of 
producers from the soil to the ultimate consumer, and the packing 
industry is unquestionably a very important link in this chain. 
Essential producers may be divided into two classes, primary and 
secondary. Those who work with or in the soil belong to the 
former class, while those who manufacture and distribute are the 
secondary producers. The first class is composed principally of 
farmers, miners and lumbermen, whose work is largely done in the 
rural districts. The second class of necessity live mostly in cities. 
Factories produce usable and eatable commodities; railroads produce 
transportation; merchants produce service and accommodations; 
banks produce a stable and convenient system for financing ; thea- 
ters produce amusement, and so on. Community, national, and 
world prosperity today depend upon the successful coordination 
of both classes of producers and their products. 

Unfortunately, there are people in the country who destroy 
rather than develop, who rob rather than serve, who take from the 
land resources that belong to the future. Similarly, there are city 
dwellers who produce nothing, who render no service, who snatch 
their living from others. Such people class with their fellow wasters 
in the country, and all communities would be better without them. 

Success, be it in growing hogs, curing pork, or baking hams, 
depends upon the energized ambition to do the job more efficiently 
each day, to profit by both past mistakes and successes, to add to 
one's resourcefulness while earning a living. 

A better known and better liked product and a lower produc- 
tion cost are the aims of the manufacturer. The farmer works 
toward the same goal. Crop rotations and livestock increase 
current profits, improve the soil and lower production costs. 

It is the function of Armour and Company to change the prod- 
ucts of pasture and feed lot into usable and eatable commodities, 
find the outlet for these goods and to distribute each article to its 
market. Our success depends upon maintaining an accepted and 
desired quality of goods, and upon practicing the greatest possible 
economy of time, labor, and product in its manufacture. Our right 
to live depends upon our ability to do this work in a way to meet 
competition by a constantly growing efficiency. 

20 




aub'Work 

and the 

Modern Faiiner 

Advanta^ to the 



^ouii4er Opnerationj an /^RnoUR. prize awarded to the gmnd champion 

'-' ; PIG SROWER IN THE STATE. 



21 J 



SOIL FERTILITY AND LIVESTOCK FARMING 

The soil, in order to serve man's needs, must first grow plants, 
and these must be used directly by man, or made into many useful 
things, or fed to livestock, and in this way indirectly used by man. 
The minerals in the soil must be converted into organic matter by 
plants before they can be used by man or beast. The first step in 
agriculture is naturally the successful growing of plants, or field 
crops. We should never lose sight of this fundamental fact in our 
study of agriculture. The soil is the most important part of the 
whole matter, because everything must come from it. 

The degree of fertility in the soil determines the degree of suc- 
cess that comes to the farmer, other things being equal. The 
mineral elements in the soil, commonly known as plant food, are 
so delicately balanced that a man, through careless methods, may 
cut down very rapidly the producing power of the soil. By a 
process known as "mining" the soil, one can in a very short time re- 
duce the most fertile spot to a condition of poverty, and Dr. Bailey, 
of Cornell, rightly says: "Man will never gain dominion over the 
earth until he learns from nature how to maintain the augmenting 
powers of its disintegrating crust." 

One great advantage in livestock farming is the ease with 
which soil fertility can be maintained by this method. There is 
always a place for every pound of surplus feed and grass and hay 
grown on the farm. When the livestock is shipped from the farm, 
much of the feed is left in the form of manure. To produce a 
hundred pounds of beef requires about 1,000 pounds of grain and 
500 pounds of roughage. But of this, 1,400 pounds are left on the 
farm when the other hundred are sold. To grow a pound of mut- 
ton requires about nine pounds of feed, but eight pounds of this 
are left on the farm when the sheep is sold. With hogs it takes 
from four to six pounds of feed to produce one pound of flesh, but 
from three to five pounds are left on the farm when the hog is sold 
off. It will thus be seen that livestock encourages us to apply to 
our soils, in the form of manure, a large part of what grew on them, 
and these manures help to keep and increase the vitality of the soil. 
They help to increase the yields, and to cut down overhead expense. 

Industry, and especially the packing industry, has an interest 
in the permanence of soil fertility because on no other basis can 
farmer and factory man thrive. A fertile soil meians larger crops, 
and larger crops mean more and better livestock. This, in turn, 
means a busy manufacturing center, and more and better food for 
humanity. 

Fertility may be maintained or increased through a good sys- 
tem of tillage, by emphasizing the livestock features of the farm, 
by the proper use of fertilizers or manufactured plant foods, and 
by a good system of crop rotation, that will leave the soil in a 
healthy condition. The farmer has the most sane and natural of 
all occupations and unquestionably finds life sweeter than any 
other class of citizens. At certain seasons he finds his life full to 
overflowing, but his patience is always tempered with the wonderful 
repose of nature, and his work is, or should be, always interesting. 

.'- : 22 



FARMING MUST BE MORE ATTRACTIVE 
AND PROFITABLE 

The chief factor in making agriculture permanent is that 
the social, educational, recreational, and business opportunities 
shall equal those of the city or town. Farming must become suffi- 
ciently profitable that the farmer can reasonably expect to amass 
as much wealth as his fellows of the city. If this opportunity 
does not exist the number of farmers will continue to decrease and 
the type of men left in this industry will not equal those that have 
brought the American farmer to his present high status of leading 
the globe from the standpoint of per capita output. Progressive 
evolution in agriculture probably means that the unit of produc- 
tion must develop sufficiently to make a specialization in labor 
possible that will compare favorably with that of other industries. 

The farmer's life offers the greatest opportunity for expression 
of individuality that exists in any vocation. Matters of personality, 
of efficiency, and of organizing and business ability are more 
directly expressed in the returns he receives and in the direct sense 
of accomplishment he experiences than in any other line of en- 
deavor. The man who is alert, quick, wide-awake and observant, 
is more completely appreciated than in any other industry, for he 
must discover his needs and gain his rewards through close associ- 
ation with each of the manifold phases of Nature. There is no 
one to tell him the things to do except himself, and his direct 
measure of his own results are the chiefest of his rewards. 

Nevertheless many improvements in the housing and social 
conditions of the farm must take place. The standards of the 
city with its home conveniences and labor-saving devices must be 
made available to the housewife and her family. Their need for 
companionship must be met by improved social conditions. 

The war developed a very fallacious argument in many branches 
of industry through the assurance of cost of production plus a 
certain profit on government war contracts. It has given many 
industries, not excluding farming, the idea that they are entitled to 
a profit on everything they do regardless of their efficiency or the 
demand for their product. The old economic fact that profits do not 
come unless a demand for products exist, is ignored. 

It is only by treating agriculture as a national industry run 
along strictly business lines, that the necessary profits will be 
assured. The growing of crops must be co-ordinated with the 
demands for farm produce, just as a manufacturing concern adjusts 
its output to the growth of its sales organization. The great dis- 
advantage is that agriculture is organized on the small unit basis, 
but with the proper study of the problem, and with a constantly 
growing intelligence among the farmers, organization will be as 
feasible as anywhere in our citizenship. Farmers will then con- 
fer oftener with the industries so closely related to their business, 
and understand the problems as a whole rather than merely as the 
problems of the farmer. 

23 






Coram|rce -Transportation - Industry 




24 



FARMING AS A YEAR-ROUND BUSINESS 

The successful operation of a packing house requires a staff 
of trained workers thoroughly familiar with every detail of what 
they should do, and a variety of well managed departments each with, 
its own special responsibility. It necessitates full operation every 
working day in order to distribute the overhead expense and to 
have available the kind of workers needed for each operation. 

Farming as a business differs from the packing business only 
in the kinds of work. The same theories for efficiency in operation 
apply to the one as well as to the other. It is necessary for each 
farmer to have a variety of crops, or farm departments, from which 
he may secure employment for his laborers the year round, a reason- 
able profit with which to overcome the losses that are always likely 
to arise, and a progressive utilization of his own time to demon- 
strate his worth as a manager. The farm that is producing best 
is the one on which the farmer gives his operations continued and 
careful study, and has so organized them that the service rendered 
by himself, his laborers, and his acres is the greatest possible. Corn, 
wheat, oats, pastures, wood lots, fruit, poultry, cattle, hogs, sheep, 
garden produce, and so on, cost much in foresight, time, and money; 
but each, properly handled, adds to the year's income and bears its 
share of the labor and operating costs. 

If for no other reason than the maintenance of a competent 
staff of workers, the farm owner should develop his operations on 
the yearly basis. The packing industry would be impossible un- 
less it held its skilled workers throughout the year; but it could not 
do this unless it were able to give full-time employment. This ex- 
perience is common to all lines of business, and the farm is no 
exception. How frequently one discovers in rural communities 
that a good man will find an appreciative employer until the corn 
is picked, the cotton marketed, and so forth, and then that he is 
turned adrift until the next cropping season opens. 

Factories, stores, and offices in general follow a set schedule of 
hours, in order to maintain discipline and routine, and also in 
order to provide a common period for the transaction of business 
with all other business houses. The farm, on the other hand, 
works largely within itself. The farmer's work is more commonly 
by the job than by the hour. It is not a question of working 
until the whistle blows, but it is necessary to get the hay stacked 
or the grain threshed. The farmer and his men work more as 
the executives and their assistants in a big business, doing things 
when they need doing, regardless of time or personal inconyenience, 
and resting or taking recreation when things are not so pressing. 

The good farm manager realizes these differences as compared 
to the kind of work required of the city laborer, and makes his men 
appreciate it as well. He rarely asks long hours unless they are 
necessary, and when he does he experiences little difficulty in get- 
ting the needed response. Farm work contains less of routine 
and dullness than office work, and considerably more which chal- 
lenges the interest and enthusiasm of the ambitious person. Every 
farmer who has recognized this fact has successfully used it. 

25 



POWER ON THE FARM 

American farmers have set a standard of production per capita 
far above that of any other nation, because of their intelligent use 
of power. In no other country are more horses utilized per farm 
laborer than in America, and nowhere else are there such large 
farm investments in gas engines, windmills, automobiles, gas and 
steam tractors, and electric motors. The great concentration of 
power that has become possible in a single piece of motor machinery 
has enabled vast increases in production, although the extent of its 
utilization is even now little realized. 

At present the horse furnishes about 75% of the power for 
breaking, cultivating and hauling, and the market for 24.5% of the 
corn, 67.8% of the oats, 17.7% of the barley, 26.5% of the rye, 
5.4% of the wheat, 44.6% of the hay, 1.7%) of the silage and 5.6% 
of the mill feeds. The future place of the horse in our agriculture 
will no doubt be related in some way to the share of concentrates 
which can be spared to feed him. 

Farmers are beginning to discover the proper balance between 
horse power and mechanical motive power. The principal facts 
are presented in Farmer's Bulletin 1093, 1919, by the U. S. Depart- 
ment of Agriculture. Studies were made on 191 farms averaging 
346^ acres, well distributed over the corn belt, on which tractors 
had been in use at least a year or over. The number of horses 
necessary to maintain on the farm was governed by the number 
necessary to cultivate the crops, and not by the number necessary 
to do the plowing, as was the case previous to the tractor. This 
made it possible to reduce horses from an average of 9|4^ per farm 
to 7/4^ animals. It also increased the number of acres possible to 
till per horse from 265^ to 38J4. The actual increase in cultivated 
land over that tilled previous to the purchase of the tractor, was 
8.03% and the average increase in the size of farms was 22 acres, 
or 6/^%. Nevertheless, the power requirements were such that 
only 4.7% of the farm operators were able to totally displace horses 
from plowing, and only 8.4% were able to allow their horses to stand 
idle while the tractors were in operation. This, then, gives an initial 
idea of the balance of the motor and the horse on the farm. 

Along with more power on the farm comes the ability to 
modernize the country home, and, as the standards of the farm are 
continually being raised, to have more home coiiveniences, a higher 
degree of sanitation, and to find more time for recreation. 




STANDARDIZATION ALL ALONG THE LINE 

When anyone says, "It Floats," "Spearmint," or "TheHamWhat 
Am," products are suggested that are not only advertised nationally, 
but which the above slogans describe as tried and true. Before a 
product can be marketed in a large way over vast territory, the raw 
material from which it comes, the manufacturing processes, the 
shipping packages, and the name must be controlled and standard- 
ized so that uniformity of product will result. 

Standardization helps to promote honesty in business. It is a 
vital link in the chain of marketing that binds the seller to give 
an honest product and gives the buyer the assurance that he will 
receive an article of the usually accepted standard quality. 

The application of this principle to farm products will mean 
as much to the farmer as it does to any other business project. For 
instance, it is well known that a mixed load of livestock containing 
a number of different grades does not sell as well as a uniform load. 
If some of the stock is well finished while others are thin, much more 
skill is required to estimate what the whole is worth, and often the 
farmer does not get the best bid that would be forthcoming. 

Take the case of milk or cream. In all sections a higher price 
is paid for sweet cream than for sour, and frequently there are two 
or more grades of sour cream with corresponding prices. Hay is val- 
ued according to kind and quality; alfalfa is worth more than tim- 
othy; musty hay is worth less than sweet, well cured hay. 

Eggs are subject to wide variation in value, depending upon 
quality. A mixture of whites and browns, large and small, dirty- 
and clean, sound and checked, or fertile and infertile eggs certainly 
bring a much lower price than good, clean fresh eggs of uniform 
size and color, or than the same lot properly graded and packed. 

In a factory, standard articles can be prepared only by means 
of standard methods and standard machinery. For instance, meat 
curing processes require a certain length of time, a definite temper- 
ature, and exact proportions of ingredients that are used in mak- 
ing the curing solutions. 

Likewise, standardized methods in farming operations are 
required to give the best results. Well selected seed com of good 
quality will not produce standard results on an infertile soil, neither 
in yield nor true type. All grains, livestock, and other crops must 
be subjected to careful standardization from beginning to end, in 
order that the best product and highest prices may be obtained. 




27 



BETTER BREEDS OF LIVESTOCK 

The permanent maintenance of our nation's fertility depends 
upon a comprehensive, country-wide scheme of Hvestock farming. 
Similarly, the maintenance of fertility on the average farm requires 
the keeping of livestock, although one occasionally finds individual 
farmers who make satisfactory substitutes for a short period of 
time.' Maintenance of fertility does not, however, require a class 
of livestock that is efficient with respect to any particular function; 
hence the fertility value of husbandry is only secondary. Live- 
stock is selected on the basis of its ability to transform the feeds 
and roughages of the farm into meat, milk, wool, or power. The 
amount of profit which the farmer secures from his animals de- 
pends very largely upon the efficiency with which they perform 
their major functions; hence it usually happens that the best farms 
of the community are those on which the best units of livestock 
are owned. 

Improvement in livestock has taken place along several well 
defined lines. From the standpoint of the meat animal, the first 
and greatest improvements were in fattening power and economy 
of gain. Improved ability to intermingle the lean with fat was dis- 
covered to be the foundation of tenderer, juicier, better flavored 
meat, the ultimate reason why Armour is interested in better live- 
stock. Once these qualities had been secured, however, attention 
was directed toward early maturity, and all classes of^ livestock 
have been materially improved in this particular. In the days of 
the old Lake Front Show in Chicago, the champion steers were 
three or four years old, but, so marked has been the increase in 
ability to finish young, all of the recent champions of the Inter- 
national Livestock Exposition have been yearlings or calves. In fact, 
classification for two-year-old steers at this show has been entirely 
abandoned. Similar changes have been taking place in sheep, and, 
to a certain extent, in hogs, although the recent popularity of the 
big-framed types has reacted in the opposite direction. The acquir- 
ing of early maturity has enabled the farmer to turn his invested 
money oftener, has lowered his risks, and has made it possible for 
him to adopt better business methods for all of his farm operations. 

There are two standard ways of increasing the profit any indi- 
vidual farmer receives. One method is by increasing production, 
and the other method is by increasing the margin secured on opera- 
tion through greater economy. Well-bred livestock offers the 
farmer a profit in both directions, since it makes possible greater pro- 
duction per acre, and it also increases the economy of gain. 




ii|^:;v-- 






28 





0im^ 



CLUB WORK AND THE MODERN FARMER 

A portion of this handbook is devoted to the improvement of 
farm crops. In this chapter we are thinking of the best and most 
precious crop of all — the boys and girls on the farms of America. 

There are twenty million boys and girls growing up in our 
rural communities. They are the greatest asset of the nation. A 
large percentage of these boys and girls would not have the inspira- 
tion for progress brought to them were it not for the Junior Club 
movement which is being carried on by agricultural extension agents 
under the supervisionof the United States Departmentof Agriculture. 

The fundamental principle underlying the success of club work 
is that the club member demonstrates to himself, his parents and 
his neighbors the value of better farm practices. Besides keeping 
the young people busy thinking of constructive things, it makes 
them assume responsibility ; it instills business principles ; it makes 
for progress by creating the spirit of competition; it keeps the 
young folks on the farm ; it broadens their education, and because 
it does all this, it advances our agricultural industry. 

One of the boys who won an educational prize trip provided 
last year by this Bureau had made $4,000 on Angus cattle in three 
years, besides carrying his regular school work; another has accu- 
mulated $3,000 worth of Berkshires; still another showed the Grand 
Champion Poland China sow in his State, winning out in the open 
classes over all the breeders. Selected from one million contest- 
ants, 350 champions visited Chicago and its principal points of 
interest during the week of the International Livestock Exposition 
in December, 1920, seventy-seven State Champions of this number 
from 23 States having been provided for by this Bureau. 

Club work prevents the development of local prejudice and 
narrow viewpoints in the farm boy. In October, 1920, the winning 
stock judging teams from the club workers of 14 states assembled 
at the Southeastern States Exposition, at Atlanta, to contest for a 
trip to Great Britain during the 1921 show season. Every boy there 
had opportunity to learn of the manly qualities of his rivals and the 
seriousness of the problems which the farmers of each state face. 
Nothing can more quickly develop a spirit of co-operation and 
understanding than such association, while the opportunities of 
the winners to understand world problems is invaluable. 

This contact of the business of farming with other business 
agencies, the learning and applying of agricultural fundamentals 
at an early age, the companionship developed in rural life because 
of this work and the advances made in agriculture under the stress 
of competition in Junior Club work, make it one of the most 
important branches of agricultural extension service. 

This work has our support and indorsement in the belief that 
it will speedily bring about a more comprehensive understanding of 
the agricultural and livestock possibilities of the country and of the 
agencies which must function co-ordinately in order to make the 
growth of the agricultural industry a certainty. 

29 



FARMERS' ORGANIZATIONS 

The Armour organizations are frequently asked what their 
attitude is toward farmers ' co-operative organizations. There are 
many reasons why we favor farmers' organizations which are estab- 
Ushed for the fundamental progress of agriculture. The under- 
lying reason for our belief in them is that anything which helps the 
farmer makes for the prosperity of the entire nation. 

The past history of farmers' organizations shows that they 
have been formed for widely varying purposes. Some have been 
organized for buying and marketing in quantity; others for the 
fraternal and social features alone; still others for the purpose of 
improving and enlarging the production of all farm products; and 
a few have affiliated for the sole purpose of influencing Congress 
to put through legislation favorable to the industry. 

Some of the more recently launched organizations are plan- 
ning their activities along most, if not all, of these lines. That 
organization which has for its purpose the working out of eco- 
nomic laws and their application to the problems of production 
and marketing, which combines the improvement of rural social 
life with business, which promotes an improved and efficient agri- 
culture, which studies cost of production, which examines world 
markets that influence supply and demand; which avoids partisan 
politics and which in all its dealings is essentially fair toward all 
other classes of society; that organization, in our opinion, will pros- 
per, endure, and render a great service to all peoples. If, however, 
a farmers' organization exists for the purpose of securing a good 
profit for all its members, be they aggressive or shiftless, producers 
of large yields or of small, real agriculturists or land miners, that 
organization, in our judgment, is doomed to failure. 

The Armour organizations stand ready to confer and discuss 
with farmers' organizations the problems confronting both, and to 
co-operate with them in working out plans which will be beneficial 
to the upbuilding of the livestock industry as a whole. It is our 
belief that if producers organize for economic advantage, they must 
expect to pass the test to which every organization now in exist- 
ence is subjected, the test of genuineness of service, ability to 
withstand competition, and eflficiency of operation. We do not 
believe producers entering the field of marketing are entitled to 
more consideration than any other marketing agency, nor do we 
believe that their organizations need more than an equal chance. 
To organizations with such aims we extend our recognition. 

In discussing these problems with farmers, our desire is to be 
recognized as reasonably well informed on the marketing problems, 
the manufacturing of livestock into meat and other products, and 
the wholesale distribution of these products. The best thought of 
all of the agencies which play a part in the production, manufac- 
ture, distribution, and consumption of livestock and all agricultural 
products, it seems to us, will be needed to make effective progress 
and to reach conclusions which will be equally fair to all, conclu- 
sions which will permanently strengthen the chances of farmers' 
organizations for achievement and success. 

30 



ACTIVITIES OF THE BUREAU 

The work of Armour's Bureau of Agricultural Research and 
Economics falls into four classes: a study of the economic rela- 
tionship existing between this industry and production agencies; 
research and investigation of the packing industry, and of certain 
vital problems which retard the growth of the livestock industry , 
relations with producers and agricultural extension work. 

The demand of most peoples for meat foods, the desirability 
of using livestock for converting hays, roughage, and grains into 
human food ; the necessity of maintaining soil fertility, have all been 
mighty economic factors in shaping the agricultural destinies of 
the world and are but a few of the great economic principles with 
which this Bureau has been concerned in an effort correctly to guide 
company policy in all matters agricultural: 

Special difficulties arise from time to time to hinder the normal 
progress of the livestock industry. Such questions as diseases 
and epidemics, the effect of by-products on meat prices, the influence 
of one class of meat upon the value of another, and many similar 
problems bearing directly upon the growth of the industry have 
received careful consideration and all the available information at 
hand, especially marketing information, has been published and 
passed on to the livestock producer. 

It is our sincere purpose to develop the closest possible rela- 
tionship with all primary producers, their organizations and other 
agencies established for the betterment of agriculture. Every 
branch of the livestock industry has its peculiar trials and diffi- 
culties. By comparing notes, it may be that each branch can help 
the other to eliminate these drawbacks. Public meat cutting demon- 
strations showing the most valuable type of animal from the stand- 
point of market demand ; participation in farmers' and stockmen's 
meetings; the receiving of various organizations that desire to study 
packing house operations and practice; and exhibitions at many 
State fairs, are some of the means which this Bureau has used 
to develop this relationship. 

In our agricultural extension work our aim is to aid the already 
organized extension forces by furnishing schools as well as producers 
condensed, practical literature on agricultural subjects, particularly 
from the market standpoint, by fostering Junior Club work, and by 
the exposition of better farm practices in State Fair exhibits. In 
this kind of work we are not competing with agricultural educa- 
tional forces, but are supplementing their work by showing how 
science is being put to test in an extremely practical way. We are 
trying to interpret and measure values in the manufacturing places 
and in the homes of consumers, and are helping to compare these 
with estimated values in the feed lots and on the farms. 

In all these activities it has been our desire: first, to understand 
the difficulties and problems of production ; second, to understand 
the problems of packing; third, and greatest of all, to bring about a 
mutual understanding, the one of the other. As the contact point, 
this Bureau aspires to bring about and maintain the proper rela- 
tionship that should exist between the producers and Armour. 

31 









OUR MESSAGE 
— HOW WE TELL IT 

Armour's Bureau of Agri- 
cultural Research and Eco- 
nomics reaches the public in 
a concrete and concise way 
through the following publi- 
cations : 

Bulletins or Booklets and 
Circulars 

(1) On soils. 

(2) On crops. 

(3) On livestock. 

Monthly Letters 

(1) To county agents reflecting the barometer of the meat and 
livestock situation, also our relations to agriculture. 

(2) To Animal Husbandmen and livestock experts, giving 
a scientific interpretation of many phases of this indus- 
try in its relation to agriculture. 

Lantern Slides and Moving Pictures, reflecting the economics 
of the packing industry, and the relation of the industry to 
improved agriculture. We have done only a limited amount 
of this work up to the present time. 

The actual placing of improved livestock in certain parts of the 
country, and creating interest in club work in this way. 

Press Articles, showing the value of improved agriculture and 
improved types of livestock as reflected in the market places. 

State Fairs, International Live Stock Exposition. 

Boys and Girls Club Work. 



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